There will be an exhibition beginning on March 18 at Aaron Faber Gallery in New York entitled Working in Metal: Three Women, and it is a focused look at the jewelry of Glenda Arentzen, Sydney Lynch and So Young Park. All of these artisans are highly accomplished, Arentzen’s work is in the Museum of Art and Design, and their aesthetic is an ode to the female perspective in metalsmithing.  The pieces are one of a kind and set in sterling silver, gold and gemstones. This is the kind of show I encourage those who want to learn more about collecting contemporary jewelry to attend. The intimacy with both the gallery and artist is a rare experience, and one that engages the intellect as well as the senses. There is no pressure to shop, just to observe and become informed of what is available on the market today. And unlike a museum show, you may handle the pieces and observe the quality firsthand.

Another fabulous gallery show will be held June 15th through the 29th in London at S.J. Phillips. Dubbed, Brilliant Impressions: Antique Paste and Other Jewellery (for my American readers: this is the British spelling of the word). Now I do not write much about the various types of the jewelry that I collect, wear and adore, and this show, I have to admit, is aimed right at my heart. From ancient times onward, glass has always been used as a gem substitute and decorative element. For those unfamiliar with the term and the material, paste was made from hard glass with a high lead content. This material was developed in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries and used, not in place of gemstones, but alongside them. The gem setter availed himself of whatever was on hand to create a beautiful ornament, and often that was paste. The workmanship of the best examples was in every way equal to that of pieces that employed genuine diamonds. To incorporate color, which was commonly more vivid than natural, a paste gem would be set with tinted foil that had been placed at the back of the closed mounting. Setting stones ajour, or open in the back, didn’t happen until the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Below are just a few of the pieces that will be on display at S.J. Phillips:

Girandole Earrings, pink and white paste, closed back setting, probably French early 18th century

Blue Paste parure, close set in gold, English early 19th century

Silver, white, red, and green paste, probably French 18th century

S.J. Phillips, Butterfly, White and colored paste, closed set in silver, French 18th century

Rachel McAdams in Lorraine Schwartz earrings

Carey Mulligan in Fred Leighton 19th century earrings

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Fred Leighton vintage earrings

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Fred Leighton vintage bracelet

Vera Farmiga in Fred Leighton

Amanda Seyfried in Lorraine Schwartz bracelets

Elizabeth Banks in Fred Leighton

For putting on the show well into the first hour! I was among the 3.1 million viewers without the Oscar telecast and believe you me, I was scrambling to find coverage somehow, somewhere, without having to drag my husband to a local bar with a satellite dish. I wasn’t relishing the thought of having to take notes while trying to keep balance on a bar stool, and nurse a single glass of wine for four hours. Four looong hours, I might add. Loved the two Masters of Ceremony  – keep them — and shorten the rest for next time.

As I hope some of you heard this morning when I was on Morning Living (my sixth guest appearance, I’m very proud to say!), there was a reversal of fortune on the red carpet. Fortune, meaning the rarified jewelry that commonly accompanies all the couture worn by celebrities. The big, bold and brash was replaced by the mostly smallish, simpler, and in some cases, sweet.  Except for Ms. Mariah Carey who maintained her bling-bling diva status and yet, kept things a little less conspicuous than she did for the Golden Globes. I even liked her use of the diamond brooch at the hip — kind of a cool touch. There were a few dramatic moments, and some trends that could be adapted to civilian life too — which if you heard my segment this morning, are not difficult to emulate.  I welcome your style questions, especially ones that I can reprint and answer here on the blog so that everyone can benefit. These are images of the best red carpet jewelry moments:

Jennifer Lopez wearing Cartier earrings

Demi Moore wearing Van Cleef & Arpels vintage bracelets

Sarah Jessica Parker in Fred Leighton bracelets

The Garden Series ring by Halley Barney, From Now Until Eternity

Walked the Jewelers of America Show yesterday at the bustling Jacob Javits Center in NYC. The convention center was hosting two other exhibitions, The NYT’s Travel Show and The International Restaurant and Food Service Show. Needless to say, it was a completely fun day for those of us who cannot live on bread alone. So snacking my way through the crowds, I finally arrived at my intended destination. The JA show was its usual affair: a mix of stalls with jewelry from every corner of the world, from ethnic jewelry and Swarovski crystalized casually tossed onto tables for a quick look-see to multi-carat gemstones mounted in gorgeous designer settings and glittering away in securely locked cases. Handling the pieces is key, and no, one does not want to take everything home. The best is covetable, yet not necessarily affordable. However…by carefully inspecting each item that stirs your curiousity, one quickly learns the difference between the ho-hum and the truly exceptional. Sometimes there are surprises; I did purchase something special. The best part?  It was reasonably priced, and wonderfully made by a studio artisan.

The image above is of the vermeil (18K gold over sterling silver) Garden Series ring I bought from Halley Barney of From Now Until Eternity. Putting aside the matinee marquee name, the ring to which I took an immediate shine is an oversized flower head, entirely handcrafted, and made in the lost wax process, an ancient form of metal casting. The best way to understand this labor-intensive metalsmithing technique is to see it done, so here is a link to beautifully produced video that takes you step-by-step through the lost wax casting process.

Later in the week, I will post images of the better pieces I came across at the JA show.  REMINDER: Next Monday, March 8, 2010 at 9:30 am on Sirius 112/XM 157 I  will once again be a guest on Martha Stewart radio’s Morning Living with Kim Fernandez and Betsy Karetnick. The talk is Bespoke Oscar Jewels…spoken to you . Learn how to tailor those red carpet looks to your own lifestyle. You don’t necessarily need the genuine article to create a charismatic moment. It’s more about editing, a few secrets, and being true to your own idea of polished. Call in, ask a question…

Enamels of the World 1700–2000 The Khalili Collections

The catalog, Enamels of the World, is for anyone who has admired the textile-like and gemstone effects recreated in the enameled jewels and objet d’art of  Peter Carl Fabergé, Rene Lalique, and Cartier, and of course, the pantheon of enamelist– jewelers who followed in their footsteps.  The New York Times’ Victoria Gomelsky wrote a superb review of the exhibition, which this catalog accompanied, and the article may be read in its entirety here. A slide show of the exhibition can be viewed  on The Khalili Family Trust website. For those of us in the Northeast who are peering out our windows at the mass of icy white so heavily bowing the branches on the trees, making them appear like the swaying trunks of elephants on the march, these vivid works remind us that spring is around the corner, and with it, that emblem of life renewed: color. Have a safe and warm weekend!

And now for thoughts on jewelry for Fall 2010 so far:

Spare.

Is that all there is to say?

Yep…pretty much.

Marc Jacobs, who has previously adorned his runway with scads of earrings, colliers, and cuffs in varying proportions and presence, showed none at all. Or at least from what I could discern. A tell-tale sign was the lack of the detail shots on Style.com. He left our tongues wagging about the clothes, and that was all. However…he did leave the idea of adding a bit of something, open to interpretation. Our interpretation, not his. The necklines fell into two camps, high and low, both of which can make for original styling with jewels — a more personal take than Jacobs has recommended in the past. Loved the looks below.. open canvases for possibility.

Marc Jacobs Fall 2010

Marc Jacobs Fall 2010

It was difficult to tell from runway images if Donna Karan’s sartorially-biased ornamentation was separate and distinct from her clothes. Jet-like shine in the form of beaded neckpieces raised the spirit of the sooty palette, giving the looks a contemporary sexiness despite the mid-sixteenth-century suggestion of a ruff (collar). Perhaps the fashion take-away here is to consider the jewel, in color and texture, part and parcel of the whole ensemble rather than a contributing element to the assemblage.

Donna Karan Fall 2010

Donna Karan Fall 2010

Darnley portrait of Elizabeth I

To see my Romantic Jewelry segment on MARTHA, please click here.

You may also watch any of the other segments and/or view the show in its entirety (FYI: all of Martha’s guests, myself included, share a special Valentine’s Day memory at the very top of the hour)

Tiffany & Co. (American, 1837-present), Paulding Farnham (American, 1859–1927), designer.
Iris Brooch, (Pink tourmalines, green garnet, platinum, c.1900–1901). Primavera Gallery, NY
Photo: Howard Agriesti, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Beginning in the 1840s, jewelry design reflected a wild fancy for all things organic. It was as if each ornament captured the cycle of life in a single, lyrical moment and immortalized it forever. The frenzied collecting of plants and flowers added a new lexicon of exotic species to the bejeweled menagerie. Diamond floral bouquets overflowed with graduated cascades of diamond drops, imitating rain or seeds falling from flower heads. This style of ornamentation was known as “en pampille” and remained fashionable until the 1850s. Corsage ornaments, enormous gem-intense brooches, were worn on the bodice of a ball gown. Often this important jeweled accessory took the form of a floral spray set with trembling with flower heads. This was accomplished by mounting each sprig and stem on a spring, permitting it to quiver with the slighted breeze. By the glow of a candle-lit ballroom, these bouquets floated across the dance floor leaving glitter in their wake.

Mother Nature’s produce was held in high esteem at the 1867 Universal Exposition in Paris. Botanical arrangements were seen everywhere, depicting their subjects with amazing accuracy in gemstones and precious metals. The jeweler and artist Oscar Massin became known for his sensitively reproduced flowers. Designer Leon Rouvenant displayed a jeweled life-size branch of lilac, to be worn as a hair ornament or brooch; the jewel was purchased by Empress Eugènie of France, whose collection of the best of French goldsmithing was unsurpassed. In the United States, the Tiffany school, taught and developed by head designer Edward C. Moore, devoted its efforts to educating its students in the study of botany. The school’s library possessed an impressive collection of reference books as well as dried and pressed specimens to be used by students to practice their watercolor and sketching techniques.


 Paulding Farnham, Tiffany’s lesser known but no less brilliant designer of jewelry, created gloriously beautiful flower-form brooches, hair ornaments and corsage decorations for the Paris Exposition of 1889. In particular, his two dozen orchid jewels which were designed specifically for this event, received the highest praise. “Twenty-four species of orchids, which are so faithfully reproduced that one would almost doubt that they are enamel, so well do they simulate the real flowers.” Orchids were a symbol of wealth and status during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and orchid fever was at its height when Tiffany & Co. displayed its prize examples at the Paris Exposition. Shortly after, collectors of hot house orchids, such as the financier Jay Gould, began to gather Farnham’s bejeweled ones too. 

An iris brooch, designed by Farnham, was purchased at the 1900 Paris Exposition by railroad magnate Henry Walters. Mounted with curved petals of Montana sapphires, flashing blue to deep lavender, and accented by yellow sapphires and diamond veining, the ornament remains a prime example of Victorian naturalism done with American flair — and with materials sourced in the United States. 

The example above is a similar iris brooch created by Farnham, this particular one may have been given to his wife.

Peter Carl Fabergé brilliantly reproduced floral arrangements in gold, enamel, precious gemstones and rock crystal. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna owned at least 20 examples of these flower arrangements. Her collection included several varieties of flowers and plants, including holly, catkins, sprigs of rowan, wild cherries, raspberries, cranberries, carnations, chrysanthemums, pansies, field daisies and a miniature pine tree. The most celebrated arrangement, a basket of lily of the valley sprouting from a velvet mass of green moss, was a favorite of the Empress. It sat on her desk from 1896 until 1917, the start of the Revolution. The basket was crafted in woven yellow gold and the moss was magically spun from green gold and platinum wire (this was before the common use of platinum in the early twentieth century) that had been left unpolished in patches, and clipped. Upon each stem grew leaves of carved nephrite, and blooming above the foliage were pearl flowers topped with rose-cut diamond petals.

Labradorite is one of my favorite minerals used in jewelry. I was first introduced to it many years ago, while working at Edith Weber & Associates. As Edith and I were packing jewelry for an upcoming show, she handed me an antique ring set with a devil’s head carved from Labradorite. The superb sculpting of the gem and its “Labradorescence,” which we recognize as iridescence in lustrous blues and greens, brought Lucifer’s face to life, almost, it seemed, from a light within. Since then I have been obsessed with this ominous gem. Labradorite was originally discovered during the nineteenth century in coastal Labrador, a region of Atlantic Canada. It has also been mined in other countries. Colorful examples are the most desirable and this link illustrates a wide variety of lively specimens.

A fine example of period Labradorite jewelry is rare, so the cufflinks pictured above are an unusual find.